


I'll paint you a clear blue sky

by Amathryth



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Compliant, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Getting Together, Jealous Keith (Voltron), M/M, Season 7 Spoilers, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-07-01 16:57:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15778242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amathryth/pseuds/Amathryth
Summary: ".....So Lance mentioned you told him about the training you guys did to pilot these MFE's."James hums, checking the gauges and continues to fly almost as if he hadn't heard him. Keith continues."...What was he laughing at when I showed up to get him for Shiro's arm?"A beat."I'm-- I'm just curious for myself, you know? Seems like it might have been amusing, whatever it was."______________________________________A part 2 of Queerklancing's A smile that kills





	I'll paint you a clear blue sky

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [A smile that kills](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15684003) by [Queerklancing](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queerklancing/pseuds/Queerklancing). 



> Julia held me at gunpoint with the feelings her fic inflicted on me, so I promised to write the second half. This is my first time posting anything to Ao3, so hopefully its not too bad! It's been a long, long time since I posted fanfiction for any fandom, so I apologize if its a little off!!
> 
> This is meant to be a part 2 to her fic A smile that kills, so go read that first!!
> 
> I'm gonna really quickly echo her sentiment that season 7 was so so so good and there's nothing but respect and appreciation for the creators in this house!!!!
> 
> I think it got a little away from me with the word count, but thats just better for you guys right? Hope you enjoy!!

Keith stares at his shoes, brow pinched in thought as he rides the elevator down into the MFE hangar. Allura had just told him about how she’s been working on a possible new arm for Shiro and that they were going to test it soon with the replacement balmera crystal power source…. Thing. He doesn’t understand how Sam had engineered it, and honestly thinks that he never will, but Sam spent years analyzing that stuff and Keith would bet every bit of his belongings that he knew what he was doing.

Still, it worries him. You could seriously mess up a lot with a prosthetic arm that's hooked to your brain. Keith accidentally killed clone Shiro by cutting it off. Probably. It was never really clear if the clone died. Keith doesn’t know what to think about that, so he doesn’t.

The elevator dings, opening to the hangar and instantly Keith can hear Lance's laugh echo from where he stood with… James? He stepped out, eyes on them from across the hangar. He sees James’ eyes flit over to him before going back to Lance, saying something that he can’t hear, but it causes Lance to laugh again and punch him in the arm, James grinning. Keith doesn’t even notice he’s walking over to them until he’s standing a few feet away, glaring at James. James just stares back with a weird look in his eye, smug smile on his face.

“Hey Lance,” Keith says, trying to keep the tension he feels out of his voice, eyes still trained on James.

“Keith! What’s up?” Lance turns his whole body towards him, dragging Keith's eyes back to his adorable face. With the way Lance is looking at him right now, Keith is lucky he’s not experiencing cardiac arrest.

“A-Allura sent me to come get you. Shiro is getting his new arm soon, and he wants us to be there in the observation room while they do it. Said something about trusting us to bust him out again if they start to do weird stuff.”

Lance laughs, eyes lighting up. “Was that a joke?”

Keith smiles, eyebrows raising. “Probably? He’s gotten a lot sassier since he’s been in his... new body.” It weird to think about that Shiro died and is literally back from the dead, so, again, Keith doesn't.

“I know! Did you hear what he said to me over the comms the other day? I was gobsmacked!”

Keith laughs, and Lance raises a hand in farewell to James as he leads the way to the hospital wing. Keith doesn't look back.

"What was that about?"

“What was what about?”

“With James.”

"Oh, I was just checkin’ out the MFE's and he was telling me about all the training and testing they had to do. I thought he might have not changed much from back in our cadet days since he yelled at Hunk in that meeting, but turns out that he's just a stickler for the chain of command. I mean, he DID go on that mission with Hunk and you to let Hunk see his family. Seems like he's a good guy, just stressed, which sounds a lot like someone _else_ I know." He glances at Keith from the corner of his eye, hand coming up to brush at his nose to hide a teasing smile.

"Thanks for that, by the way. I was so caught up in my own family that I didnt even...." Lance turns his head to him fully this time, and finally realizes that Keith is scowling at the floor as they walk. "Keith?"

Lance nudges him with his shoulder, and Keith nudges back, eyes flicking up. "I'm listening. You don't have to thank me, it was the right thing to do. I've been alone before when it feels like I'm powerless, and I didnt want Hunk to go through that… I didn’t do much."

Lance smiles. "Still, thanks for lookin out for him."

Keith returns it, the remains of the scowl melting off his face.

* * *

 

The flight with James to the galra base is strangely quiet. Keith isn't sure if its because there's nothing to be said or there's everything to be said and neither know how to go about it without starting a fight. He knows that James knows better than to rile his teammates up before something as serious as this mission, and honestly, Keith is happy for that. However, the niggling feeling in the back of his head about James and Lance is starting to eat at his brain, and they _do_ have some time to kill...

Keith lies back in his seat, watching the clouds jet by. He opens his mouth a few times, grateful James can’t see him mime a fish and stumble over his thoughts before settling on one.

".....So Lance mentioned you told him about the training you guys did to pilot these MFE's."

James hums, checking the gauges and continues to fly almost as if he hadn't heard him. Keith continues.

"...What was he laughing at when I showed up to get him for Shiro's arm?"

A beat.

"I'm-- I'm just curious for myself, you know? Seems like it might have been amusing, whatever it was."

Keith can practically hear James’ eyebrows raise in question. There’s a few moments of tension before he huffs a laugh.

"I was telling him about our agility and dive testing we did with the early beta models; how Rizavi almost ate it in one early test when the ship she was piloting almost didn't pull up fast enough after some friendly piloting competition between us. Nearly gave Officer Holt a heart attack."

Keith’s brow furrows. "That's not funny at all."

"No, it wasn't. He was laughing at his own story about how that reminded him of the time you two decided to have a dive competition while blindfolded in your lions and both of you ended up face down in sand dunes because you're both just ‘Like That’. His words, not mine."

Keith's heart somersaults in his chest, embarrassment settling lightly in his stomach. That dork. "Oh."

James flips a switch before leaning back in his seat too, taking a break but still keeping his eyes on his dashboard.

"He's become really cute, and a good pilot, it seems."

Something settles in Keith’s stomach like molten lava. _James Griffin? Calling Lance cute? And complimenting Lance in the same breath?_

"Haven’t gotten to see him in action in the air, but his sniping isn’t anything to sneeze at if what Kinkade says is right. It sounds like you guys have gotten to be good friends, which is surprising since all he would talk about back in our cadet days is how you two were rivals and--"

“He’s always been like that.”

He crosses his arms, totally not pouting and slides down further in his chair. Keith still doesn’t know how to process what James just said; were his suspicions right? Did James like Lance? But they've only been home for barely three days! That doesn't make any sense! ...Well, they DID have that year that Keith wasn't at the Garrison. Maybe they had been friends? No, Lance told him...

  
James raises an eyebrow, humming in question, but Keith didn’t elaborate, or even notice what exactly he had said. He was too busy being focused on whether James actually likes Lance or not.

Keith then realizes that Lance never did tell him if he and James were friends in the Garrison, or even give him a hint about it, just that he thought he hadn't changed.

Keith scowls at the back of his head. No, he tells himself, he’s not jealous. There’s nothing to be jealous of to begin with. Keith can outfly him on anything, and Keith has had years with Lance as a good teammate. As if James _fucking_ Griffin has a chance with Lance over him… Right?

Keith realizes that he’s mid-conversation. He can think about _ridiculous_ stuff later.

"...Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"You guess you’re close? Is he or isn't he your friend? I swear Kogane--"

"Yes, okay, hes my friend! Geez."

James huffs another laugh.

"Relax, I'm just giving you a hard time."

"Like you always do," Keith mumbles.

James goes quiet at that. There's a long silence before James starts again.

"Hey, does Lance--"

Sam's voice sounds from the coms.

"Paladins, our window of opportunity is razor thin."

Keith guesses that the MFE's are much faster than he thought, because suddenly they’re nearing the drop off point. Keith tries to clear his mind of the curiosity and annoyance and whatever the hell else feelings he’s having from this conversation and calls out to the black lion. After this is over, Keith thinks he’ll have a talk with him to get some things settled.

* * *

  
The next time Lance gets to talk to Keith without the immediate pressure of impending Armageddon via Galra Empire is after the battle.

Team voltron is used to crash landings. Usually. And usually they end up with only a bruise or two from where they jammed their knees into the control console. With the circumstances leading up to the one that just happened? They're all lucky to be alive.

Allura had mostly been fine, it was the explosion itself that shocked her the most. Something about the corrupted quintessence, if Lance recalls correctly from what Coran said. She’s been feeling really sick from the shock, and hasn’t been getting much sleep because of it. It’s been nearly four days and she’s still having trouble keeping her dinner down.

Hunk and Pidge got rattled around a bit more than planned because of their crash landings into the nearby woods and the desert. Pidge was sporting a broken wrist, but most of her injuries were negated by the armor. She’s been sleeping a lot from painkillers, and when she’s awake her and Matt split the controller and play video games together, bundled up on the bed.

Hunk suffered mostly bruising, as he moved less in his seat. He was unconscious when he crashed, though, and hit his head on the control panel. At least, that's what the doctors think. He doesn't really remember it. If it hadn’t been for his helmet, he’d probably be out right now like Keith. He’s been complaining about his IV to Lance a lot lately. He and Allura have to be pushed around in wheelchairs because Allura can't stand yet without getting sick and Hunk’s knee is so swollen it looks like it’s going to explode if he touches it too much.

Lance, however, had managed to bruise his ribs, along with every other part of his body when he collided with his own control panel and landed on the arm-rest wrong. Lance made a note to install seatbelts in the Lions, and everyone else agreed (after explaining what they are to Allura, that is). His sleep has been spotty at best, and when he finally gets a look in the mirror he almost screams at the bags under his eyes. He’s used to sleeping on his stomach, but he can’t do that right now because of his injuries. He can deal with it with the aid of painkillers, but the doctors told him specifically that he’d just risk making it worse if he were to put too much pressure on them. At least he didn't have an IV anymore after the first two days. He understands why Hunk complains so much.

Keith sustained a concussion, along with other minor injuries and heavy fatigue. He was unconscious when they dug him out, which meant a coma might be a possibility. To be honest, it scared Lance so much he could safely say that it’s half the reason he couldn’t sleep. The team kept asking about him to the doctors and nurses so much that they’d start their check-in’s to the other paladins by saying “Keith is fine, he hasn’t woken up yet but he’s stable.” Lance is sure that if it really came down to it Allura could probably do some magic altean thing to bring him back to the surface, but he wasn’t about to ask her to do something like that right now. So, all they could do was wait.

Four days after their extractions from the lions, he woke up. Lance was being visited by his family at the time, and he didn’t want them to follow him over and overwhelm him. There was also the possibility of them saying something embarrassing about him, and he just couldn’t take that chance. He wanted to talk to him alone, which he told himself he would do in the morning.

_He’s probably asleep right now._

Lance has a lot of time to himself, especially at night. He isn't used to healing normally on his own, usually a quick 30 minutes in a pod could heal all of this, but... well, things are different than they were what felt like 3 weeks ago, which somehow turned into 3 years ago which-- agh, Lance's brain hurts.

Point is, things changed super fast this past (what was to him) six months; they lost the castle, Keith and his mom found a weird magical black hole that aged them two years older, they allied themselves with the galra, defeated TWO of the emperors of said Galra Empire in what seemed rapid succession, Keith got a teleporting wolf-dog-thing and _didn’t even bother to name him,_ the Shiro that they spent like a full year with turned out to be a clone, said clone tried to kill them all and gave Keith a scar, _the reason Keith didn’t name him is because he’s- he’s-- "He'll tell me when he’s ready"--_ discovered TWO secret altean civilizations, Keith got bigger, and older, and _hotter_ , and--

And he confessed last week.

And Lance didn't get to say anything.

And it was especially stark to him that he hadn't said anything while he was facing down death with that galra fighter after being thrown out of the rover with Veronica.

He still couldn't believe he came that close to dying and not telling--

Lance throws his hands up towards the glow in the dark stars on the ceiling, lying in his hospital bed.

_This isn't getting me anywhere. It's not like I haven't faced down death before._

He sighs, trying to clear his mind, eyes flicking between the new messy constellations on his ceiling. His niece and nephew found them in the rubble of a department store and thought Lance should have them. Lance told them that he’s seen them up close, and that they should keep at least some of them for themselves until he takes them to see the real thing.

A cold feeling settles in the pit of his stomach. He almost died, and he felt so powerless. If red hadn't come...

He doesn’t know why that instance is so much different from the thought of dying from the explosion. Maybe it’s the thought of dying without the team, letting the Earth down, letting his sister down, letting his team down.

Letting _Keith_ down.

Lance huffs and sits up abruptly.

He needs to talk to Keith. He can’t stand going another minute like this without letting him know how he feels.

Lance stands up, the cold tile beneath his feet not helping the ice in his gut. Great, he was in an emotional downslide.

Not wanting to deal with it, he shoves it into the back of his mind as he quietly opens the door and looks around the hall. It’s after hours, so half the lights are off. His room is in a relatively private wing of the hospital, one for what he guesses used to be for high ranking military officials. Keith's was down the hall to his left, then a right turn down another hall, and it’s on the end near the ICU. Not that he knew from frequent visits while he was unconscious, or anything.

Lance shivers, and turns around to grab his jacket before he realizes that it was still in the cargo hold of the red lion. He shrugs, resigning himself to being uncomfortable. Maybe if Keith’s awake, he’ll notice and scoot over and they can cuddle like they did in black--

Lance feels his face flush. He didn’t even--Thinking things like that so casually...  
Just how long has he felt like this?

Lance slips out of the room and down the hall, wondering when the hell Keith actually won him over enough for him to casually think about romantic stuff like cuddling in a hospital bed and sharing body heat and soft kisses and saying things like ‘I lo-’--

"Lance?"

Lance jumps and makes a motion to activate his bayard, but just ends up looking shell shocked as he stares into the face of Shiro, who's eyebrows shot up into his hairline in concern.

"Shiro?"

Shiro chuckles, and Lance straightens back up, feeling like he's been caught red handed. The flush on his face gets noticeably worse in the low light, which just makes Shiro smile wider.

"Headed to Keith’s room? I was about to go drop off some stuff to him, but I think he’s talking to someone right now. I didn't want to disturb them."

It’s Lance's turn to look a little concerned. Shiro? Not wanting to intrude on Keith? Just who was Keith talking to that Shiro deemed it better to stay outside? Shiro was always up in Keiths business, and Keith was up in his in return. So…?

"Did something happen? Who was he talking to?"

Shiro shifts over to the side of the hall and sits in one of the chairs near the nurses station, Lance following him.

"I think it might be another cadet, probably someone he knew during his time at the Garrison. I just thought it might be nice for them to catch up without my interference. I tend to uh… Intimidate people here." He chuckles, then turns to Lance after placing the bag on the floor.

"What about you? Why were you headed to what I'm guessing is Keith's room at--" He checks his watch. "--1:43 on a Tuesday morning?"

Shiro looks a little too knowingly at him after he says it, and Lance can feel his heart start to speed up, feeling overwhelmed for some unknown reason.

"I--I uh-"

"Hey."

Shiro places a hand on Lance's knee, and it's warm and comforting and everything Lance needs right now.

"I'm not trying to push you. We had a hard battle, and you haven't gotten to see him yet since he woke up. He'll be happy to see you, regardless of what time it is. He knows you've been busy with your family."

Lance, for some reason, feels his throat go scratchy and his eyes well up with tears.

"I know," he croaks. "I know you're not. I-- ... I've been in my head a lot tonight and just so much has happened and I think I'm having post battle depression and _Shiro we could have died and I didn't tell Keith I--_ "

Lance stops himself, tears starting to fall down his cheeks, and Shiro's hand moves to Lance's back. Lance shivers, hands coming up to cover his arms. Shiro takes notice, handing Lance a red and white hoodie.

"Here. It's way too cold in this hospital."

Lance sniffles and takes it, relieved to finally have something to cut the cold. The hoodie is soft and worn in his hands, but when he pulls it on it’s so comfortable and warm he could fall asleep right there in the chair. The Garrison logo is on the front, faded from what he’s guessing is wash and use.

"Thanks. Where did you get this?"

Shiro brings a hand up to his mouth, and looks away, coughing suspiciously.

"Oh, uh... around? I think it was in a salvage pile."

Lance side-eyes Shiro, not buying it, but obviously Shiro didn't want to tell him. He was grateful though, so he let it go.

" _Anyway_ ," Shiro starts, "I'll always be here for you Lance, just like you were there for me when... when the other me was here. Whenever you're feeling overwhelmed or just want to talk, I'm all yours. We live hard and dangerous lives as part of team Voltron, and we don't know how tomorrow will pan out. If anyone knows that, it's me."

Shiro looks down at his hand, clenching his fist once, twice, before looking back up at Lance.

"But that doesn't mean we have to live in fear. The strongest thing we can do as paladins, as _people_ , is live life to the fullest and try to experience as much mirth and happiness and _hope_ as we can. The fact that you take every day in stride and try to make others smile shows just how strong you are."

Shiro stands up, putting his bag of belongings under his arm before offering his metal one to Lance. Lance sits there, mouth hanging open, looking at Shiro in awe, and Lance is suddenly aware why he is the soul of the Atlas; that Shiro is the strongest and kindest man he's ever going to meet.

"I think you should talk to Keith; it might help your mood out better than I can right now."

Lance, suddenly aware of where he is, wipes his tears furiously on the sleeve of the hoodie and grabs Shiro's outstretched hand. It pulls him up out of the chair, and Lance is pushing forward into Shiro's chest, arms wrapping around him in as much of a bear hug as he can manage with bruised ribs.

Shiro blinks, taken by surprise, but quickly settles and wraps his own arms around Lance's form, chuckling.

"Thanks, Shiro," Lance says hoarsely, burying his face in Shiro's human shoulder.

"I'm here for you Lance, don't forget that. Now," Shiro lets go and pats Lance on the back, mindful of his injuries. "Get going, lover boy."

Lance squawks, spinning on his heel towards Shiro, but Shiro’s already walking away and laughing quietly to himself.

  
"You know," Shiro calls out softly over his shoulder, trying to lower his voice so he doesn’t wake anyone,"the first thing he did when he woke up was ask about you. According to Kolivan, I mean."

He turns fully around and grins at Lance, walking backwards with a smug swagger. His hands come up to his face to hold his cheeks in mock worry, voice morphed into a mock Keith voice.

"'Is everyone okay? Where's Lance?'"

Shiro turns back around, lifting a hand in a wave before turning the corner.

It takes everything in him, but Lance decides maybe he shouldn't make a scene and yell in the hallway of a hospital at 2am _(‘on a Tuesday!’, he hears Shiro say in his head)_ , and turns back to the direction of Keith’s room, crossing his arms around himself as he mumbles and shuffles down the hallway, his face hot enough to make him consider taking the hoodie off. Shiro is such a little shit.

When he gets a few doors away, he can hear muffled voices. Lance stops outside the room, back pressed to the wall, listening to the conversation. He's not trying to eavesdrop, he tells himself, just assess whether now is a good time or not…

"I seriously need one of those."

"Yeah, he's a pretty good friend. Saved my hide more times than I can count."

"His name is Kosmo, right?"

Lance can hear the face Keith makes, and almost snorts loudly.

"That's just what the team calls him. Hunk came up with it."

There's a rustling sound, and then a low chuckle as a thumping noise starts.

"Don’t rub his belly too much, he'll get excited and teleport you somewhere. I don’t think he can help it."

"That’s honestly precious. It's been awhile since I've seen a dog other than the Holts."

He hears Keith hum, and the thumping continues for a few more seconds before an ‘Oh!’ and a sizzling noise.

"God, that is still so cool. I can’t believe you found him by chance."

"Life is just weird that way, I guess."

Silence settles in, and Lance is about to move before the other person starts talking again. "Hey, Keith?"

"Hm?"

"I'm really glad you're back on earth. It was weird not having you around, even if we weren't on the greatest of terms before..."

"Before I got thrown out?"

"Ye-yeah."

Another silence. Lance thinks he probably missed his chance to interrupt.

"It's weird. Not even four days ago I would have never dreamed that you would be in my hospital room at 2am just to see me and talk about... actually, why ARE you here?"

The other person cleared their throat, "Actually, I did have something in mind to talk about. I didn’t plan on being here for three hours before actually getting to the topic though. Are you tired? I can come back later."

"No, it’s okay. I only woke up about six hours ago, so I should still okay for now."

A deep breath, and James-- Lance can tell who it is, his voice is obvious to him now-- continues.

"I like you."

Lance feels like he's been electrocuted. _What?_

"Wh-.... Then why were you flirting with Lance?"

Lance's hand flies up to his mouth. _He was flirting with me?_

"I was testing your reaction to see if my suspicions were true. The way your eyes follow him from across the hangar when you think nobody is looking isn’t exactly subtle.

“At first I was upset, but then I realized that he makes you happy. I've liked you since our days in training, even if I didn’t show it very well. That showdown for Earth really hammered into me that life is unbearably short, so you might as well come clean about your intentions and feelings.”

Lance can relate. He realizes that both he and James had the same idea; go to Keith and tell him how they feel as soon as they got the chance after he woke up. He isn’t sure how he felt about that, or what he expected, but his heart feels a little bad for James. Here Lance was, going on cross universe missions and endless training exercises with his crush when James wasn't even sure the guy was alive after their escape into the desert. Then, Sam comes back and plants hope that Voltron will come, that Keith will come back, only for them to go off the map for three years. Suddenly, Lance isn’t as upset that James is confessing as he was a second ago.

"I-I just wanted to put all the cards on the table. I know I have no chance with you after seeing how much he means to you, among... Other factors. I just wanted to know if we could be friends and to say sorry for everything I did in the Garrison and in school before that. I was a bully, and I was insecure in my own identity and abilities and took out my frustrations on you. You didn’t deserve it at all. I'm sorry, Keith."

Another long silence, and Lance can hear his heartbeat hammering loudly in his ear. He doesn’t even realize he’s holding his breath until Keith speaks.

"You're right; you have no chance _at all._ "

Relief and a little guilt floods Lance, his head tipping back to lean against the wall. What happened to the sentiment he was just feeling before this?

A wry chuckle from James. "I guess I deserved that."

"To be honest, my friendship with Lance didn’t have the best start, but at least he didn’t openly bully me in front of everyone for acting out as _a severely lonely, angry teenager._ "

Lance can feel James wince from outside the room, and Lance starts to wonder if he should just come back tomorrow.

"Maybe Lance was a little rough with his feelings, but I knew he'd risk everything for his team. Coran would have been killed during our first mission without him taking action. And then the first fight with Sendak-- We-.... We really do make a good team. I guess that's when I really started falling for him."

His heart flutters. It had been _that_ long _?_ He hears James sigh in defeat.

"I get it, you don't have to explain yourself."

"No, you're going to sit there and listen to why you don't have a chance, and then _maybe_ I'll accept your apology."

Lance's eyes widen at how aggressively Keith snaps at James, eyebrows shooting up. Lance presses himself closer to the door so he could hear a little better. He knows he probably shouldn’t be listening to this, but his curiosity gets the better of him. He hears Keith take a deep breath, before letting it out slowly.

"If there's one thing I learned while in the Quantum Abyss with my mom, it’s that opening up to people is the hardest part. If you really want us to be friends, then you need to sit there and take it, even if it hurts, because you've hurt me more times than I can count."

"Is that what this is? You opening up to me?"

  
"...Yeah, I guess it is."

  
There’s a shift in the mood, and Lance relaxes when James hums.

  
"...Okay."

  
"Good."

  
There’s the shifting of fabric, probably both of them getting comfortable, followed by a brief silence before Keith begins again.

  
"...I guess at first, he really did drive me up the wall. I just wanted to be teammates and for him to take everything seriously like he should, but he was so into this whole 'rivals' thing that I nearly lost my mind. Shiro was the only one keeping me sane at that point, between the stress of the situation and how the others were dealing with it.

  
"Like I said before, I think it really sunk in that he was serious about things when he took that blow for Coran. He could have died, and he did it without hesitation. I think the following fight with Sendak just cemented the sentiment for me. That even though he was a royal ass at the time, I could count on him when it mattered.”

As he listens, a small smile forms on his face. Lance agrees; that's probably when the gravity of the situation really sunk into him; that this wasn’t some cartoon he watched while growing up and that people were actually in danger.

"Over time things got more serious. Months of training, battles, and negotiations with new planets. I found out I was galra. Another battle with Zarkon. Then, Shiro went missing. I... Didn't take it too well and I lashed out at the others. I was so angry and upset and I felt so alone. He was the only one that never gave up on me, no matter how much I pushed him away. There was a lot of tension and honestly, I don't remember interacting with the team much because I was just so exhausted from searching every galaxy even remotely near where he disappeared. When it came time for us to move on and choose the next black paladin, I broke. Lance didn't help with his yelling, but I think it was also him not wanting to move on either, in his own way.

  
"I still don't understand why he accepted me as the new black paladin so quickly. But, suddenly, after weeks of feeling like I was adrift in space all alone with no direction, I wasn't. He single handedly pulled me back into the team, and we moved on.”

Lance's heart clenches and his breathing stutters. So it was a big deal for him too... He knew Keith had had a hard time with Shiro, but he didn’t think he left that much of a personal impression on Keith with simply supporting him. He thought maybe he just-- Lance didn’t know, he just thought it wasn’t as big of a deal for Keith as it was for him. He was wrong, apparently.

  
"I wasn't the best leader. Lotor attacked us and drew us into a dangerously unstable planet. I followed him into it without thinking, giving orders the others couldn't follow and putting the whole team in danger. At one point, I thought I had lead the team to our deaths; we were all lost in this gas planet without a way to navigate and didnt know which way was up. Lotor was creeping around any possible corner ready to shoot us down.

“Lance found me. Again, he brought me back.

"War isn't easy. It goes without saying, but I never thought I would have to experience it on a scale that we have growing up. But facing the void of space and threat of death with the people you love is much better than facing it alone.”

He’s honestly dumbfounded, his mouth hanging open. Yeah, when Keith got back from the Quantum-whatever he looked older and stuff, but he didn’t think that he’d done this level of reflection or maturing or whatever. He’d really grown as a person and a leader since he’d been gone.

  
"Lance confided in me about his fear of too many paladins and not enough lions if Shiro did come back. He told me he felt like he should be the one to leave, and I told him simply not to worry about it. I was awkward in my new position as leader, and I'm not usually the one to hand out advice to people seeking reassurance. I know I didn't handle it well. I just hoped that what I said helped, even if just a little bit.

  
"What I didn't tell him is that there was no way in any galaxy that I would let him leave, even if Shiro came back. I wanted to yell about how good of a friend he is, how he’s an amazing paladin and how he kept the team together, kept moving forward while I struggled with my new position. He asked questions, inserted himself in strategy meetings, and helped me step up to the leader I should have been. I... owe him a lot. I think that's when my feelings started to become more apparent and when I finally noticed what they were, I left.

  
"Shiro came back to us, and immediately after he started to pilot black again, I bolted."

  
This... is a lot for Lance to take in. Is Keith really going to just spill the entirety of how he...realized he liked Lance? Isn't this a bit much for a crush...? Is he doing it to just rub James' face in it? A salt in the wound thing?

There’s a nudge to his hand, and Lance's eyes snap down to Kosmo, who’s now sitting at his feet quietly. Lance buries his hand in his fur and Kosmo licks his arm in affection. Quietly, he bends so he’s sitting on the floor, listening to Keith talk while Kosmo puts his head in his lap.

  
"I didn't leave because of my feelings for Lance. I wanted to know more about the Blade of Marmora, and about my heritage. There was also the fact that it would let Lance be at ease with his fears, and it got Shiro back in the game, right where he needed to be. I wasn't the leader he was, and he deserved to be a paladin. All I did up until that point was put everyone in danger.

  
"I... think it backfired though. I hurt Lance when I did that. We were finally becoming close and I just... I just left the team. I didn't realize until I came back after the time with my mom what exactly I did to our relationship.

"I pushed him away, because I was scared he'd figure me out and push me away first."

  
Lance's hand freezes. Everything Keith has said so far matched up to his memory, but he had no idea that Keith leaving for the blade was that significant. And yeah, it did hurt-- everyone else was getting closer to someone else, even Hunk was spending more time with Pidge than him. He and Shiro didn't exactly click as black and red paladins, either, which didn't help. He felt like he was alone, and the one person he felt would listen to him, wanted to spend time with, get to know better, and banter with wasn't there.

  
"I drowned myself in the blades schedule to mute my own thoughts. I was exhausted by the time I met back up with the team again, and nearly made a rash decision that would have cost me my life. At the time, it felt like it was me or the team, and I placed the people I cared about ahead of myself. The universe needs Voltron, and it was an easy decision to die for the person I love."

Lance's eyes widen, his hands coming up to muffle his gasp. Kosmo lifts his head, tail starting to wag lazily as he stares up at Lance, an odd twinkle in his eye.

  
He hears Keith sigh again, and another shifting sound before James was speaking.

  
"So, you love him."

  
"Yeah, I do."

  
"Does he know that?"

  
"He....H-he knows I like him, but I haven't said it like that yet."

"Well--"

There’s a sizzling, a pulling feeling in Lance's gut, and then suddenly Lance was sitting in the floor of a hospital room.

Well, at least he had a better landing than the first time.

Lance is still frozen, eyes wide with his hands still covering his mouth and _Kosmo why do you have to keep doing this?_

"Isn't that your old hoodie?"

Lance's heart jumps to his throat, his eyes finally flicking up and meeting with James' surprised face. Kosmo lets out a quiet ‘boof’, turning towards Keith and wagging his tail as if asking _‘did I do good?’_

Keith's voice cracks, high pitched. "Lance?!"

Lance finally processes what just happened and stands up abruptly, laughing loudly in the quiet. "A-Ah-- uh, I-- You see--"

"What--"

James stands up, amused smile on his face as he looks at this absolute trainwreck.

"So, judging by how flustered you are, you were listening, huh?"

Both Lance and Keith's faces ignite, Lance hiding his face in his hands and Keith squawking up a storm, trying to come up with something-- anything-- to say to possibly make this less awkward than it is.

Keith gives up, flopping down onto his bed and shoving his pillow on his face. Lance throws the slightly too small hood over his head and pulls the strings, trying to hide. It only ends up covering his eyes. Hes burning up, and James just looks at them both and laughs. His eyes look tired, but his smile is genuine, if a little pained.

"I'm just gonna take my leave now. Have a good night you guys. I'll come by tomorrow, if that's okay, Keith."

Keith raises a hand, IV cord dangling from it as it takes him a few seconds to remember how to make a thumbs up gesture. James snorts, and with one last pat to Kosmo's head, steps out into the hall and shuts the door behind him quietly.

Silence settles on them immediately, only interrupted by the steady thump of Kosmo’s tail, and it takes Lance a hot minute to build up the courage to peek out from the hood at Keith. He's sprawled out on the bed, pillow pressed to his face with one hand while the other is white knuckled and still clenched into the thumbs up gesture. From where he's standing, Lance can see the blush that's running down Keith's neck to his collarbone, disappearing under his hospital shirt. He dies a little inside from how adorable that is.

Lance swallows, and quietly steps closer to the bedside, his hand reaching towards Keith's. Keith jumps when Lance's hand comes into contact with his, his hand gently being coaxed open enough so Lance can slip his fingers inside to thread between Keith's, their palms clasping together softly.

Keith squeezes Lance's hand, Lance returning the gesture as he sits on the edge of the bed. Keith groans.

"....How much did you hear?"

Keith throws the pillow to the foot of his bed, but his elbow is now covering his eyes. Lance can see that Keith's face is a very cute red, slowly making its way to pink now that the pillow is gone. Lance considers telling him that Kosmo really shouldn't be in the hospital because he's going to cause someone to go into cardiac arrest.

Namely, both of them.

"...Life's funny like that."

Keith whines again. "So, everything then."

"Y-yeah."

Lance is smiling, a goofy sort of smile that usually he might be embarrassed about, but with Keith hiding his face he doesn't have to worry about him seeing.

"Has it really been that long? I know you said you liked me but--"

"Love."

Keith sits up, and suddenly their faces are very close and he's staring into Keith's eyes again, surprise coloring his features.

"What?"

"I love you." Keith seems to lose the confidence he had after saying it, his gaze dropping to his lap, voice cracking and stuttering. "Might-- might as well say it since, you know, you... heard everything."

Lance stops breathing, his hold tightening on Keith's hand. Violet eyes flick up to Lance in concern, and blink in surprise at the look on his face. Lance looks like he’s about to cry, and god, Keith can't see that again or else he might cry too. Too much has happened in the past few days and getting emotional will just make his IV and head hurt more than it already does.

Keith realizes that Lance never even said that he liked Keith back in the first place, and that suddenly coming out and saying he loved him might be too much. He starts to backtrack, bringing his other hand to their clasped ones and brushing his fingers over Lance's knuckles.

"L-look, I don't expect anything from you. That's not what this has ever been about and if you don't feel the same, it's fine, I'm fine. God, I don't want to pressure you into anyth--"

  
Fingertips dance across Keith’s face lightly, stunning him into silence mid sentence. They hesitate for a moment, just taking him in before brushing stray hairs behind Keith’s ear. Lance is so in awe of him that Keith doesn't realize he’s holding his breath until Lance presses forward and kisses him, his palm resting on Keith's face gently to pull him in.

Keith inhales into the kiss, the gentle press of Lance's lips against his making his brain short circuit, and all too soon, they're pulling away. Lance is giggling, looking so at ease and happy that Keith doesn't say anything for a few seconds, before his own smile blooms across his face. He pulls Lance in for another kiss, places one, two, three sweet presses to his lips before moving them up towards his cheek and forehead.

"Oh thank god," Keith breathes.

Relief floods Keith’s body. He laughs, falling forward into Lance’s shoulder, hiding his blush there while one of his arms moves to encircle his waist.

Lance’s hand moves to hold the arm that Keith had wrapped around him, gently smoothing his fingertips along his shoulder. His other hand came up to carefully run his fingers through Keith’s hair, cautious of his bandages, and cradling Keith to him. Turning this way makes his ribs ache, but he deals with it.

"Me too. I love you too."

Keith presses a kiss to Lance's shoulder, and another to his neck, pulling him gently to encourage Lance to scoot back and sit across his lap. Lance takes it a step further, and, careful of bruises and cords, rolls onto his knees to straddle Keith, his arms wrapped around him and his face buried in his hair. He sighs, content, the ache to get closer to Keith worse than the ache in his ribs. Lance’s words are muffled by Keith’s hair when he speaks.

"During the battle, I was really worried I wouldn't get the chance to tell you. There was one point where I was... uh.." Lance's hold tightens, just slightly. "Lets just call it a close call. I wasn’t even in my lion yet."

Keith shifts, trying to look at him. "Lance...?"

Tears prick at Lance's eyes, and he swallows the lump in his throat, "It's okay. It's okay because we made it and we're here now."

Keith presses a kiss to Lance's jaw, brow drawn in concern. Lance lets out a hiccup before giggling and pressing another long kiss to Keiths lips before pulling away and pressing his forehead to Keith's.

"You don't have to talk about it yet if you're not comfortable. That battle took a lot out of us. More than we realize, I think."

Lance snorts, "You're one to talk, you just woke up a few hours ago. You've been out for a while."

Keith smiles briefly. "I'm glad I'm the worst of us, though. I was... I really thought that was going to be it for us."

Lance's head flew back, blowing a raspberry, Keith jumping in surprise at the sound. "It takes a little more than that to put an end to us!"

Keith’s smile turns sweet, adoration plain on his face as he stares up at Lance. "...I'm really glad you're okay."

Lance’s face melts into a soft expression. "You too. You really had me worried there for a minute, but I knew you could pull through. How's your head?"

"It's.... been better. It's not terrible right now, but almost everything on my body aches to some degree, I think."

Worry tinges Lance's expression. "Should I move?"

Keith scrunches his nose, like he’s disgusted at the thought. "Are you kidding? I've been waiting for this for years. Stay."

Lance blushes, the dopey smile from before finding its way back onto his face. "Yeah, okay. Maybe we should get more comfortable, though?"

Keith groans, pressing his head into Lance's chest, heartbeat loud in his ear. "...I guess my legs are starting to go to sleep. You won't leave? Cause I don't want you to even get up from this bed right now."

Lance's face just gets hotter, and he sputters a moment before Keith chuckles. "I think the painkillers are making me lose my filter. Sorry."

Lance lets out a whine as he starts to shift to get comfortable, which is echoed by Kosmo, who decides now is a good time to try to climb up in the bed.

"Kosmo! No! Get down! This bed isn't big enough for all three of us!" Keith scrambles to make room, Lance's hand immediately going to hold the IV tube so its not yanked out of Keiths arm as the bed shifts from the force of a space wolf trying to hop up on it.

Kosmo whines, freezing in his ascent onto the bed, front paws planted on the mattress and one back paw already on the bed, ready to push himself up. Keith points to the floor, where, Lance just notices, lays what looks like two or three blankets covered in midnight and light blue fur. There’s a few rubber chew toys, but they’re mostly in pieces now. Lance makes a note to himself to find Kosmo something better to chew.

"No, get down."

Another whine, and Keith sighs.

"...We can cuddle later, when I don't have an IV and a cute boy in my bed, okay? I'm sorry."

Kosmo huffs, pushing off the bed and bumping his head into Keith's outstretched hand. Keith gives his head a few seconds of scratches, and Kosmo seems to accept it and lay down on his blankets instead.

"You called him Kosmo." Lance snickers, gently maneuvering Keith's tube over the side of the bed before settling in on his not so sore side. His right arm comes up to wrap around Keith who is laying on his back on the bed, laying his head on Keith’s shoulder.

Keith's nose scrunches, and Lance thinks maybe he'll never get over how cute that face is. "No I didn't."

Lance scoffs, offended.

"Are you calling me a liar? I heard it straight from your mouth. This mouth, right here."

He brings his hand up and gently directs Keith's face towards him before pressing a gentle kiss to it. Keith hums and relaxes into the kiss, tongue darting out to brush against Lance's lower lip. He laughs when Lance jumps, hypersensitive, and the arm Lance is laying on comes up to card through Lance's hair, playing with the strands. Lance's hand fists in Keith's shirt, hanging on for dear life, because, dear god, his heart is about to explode. In a stroke of daring, Lance's own tongue comes to wipe across Keith's bottom lip before slipping into Keith's mouth, Keith letting out a startled moan as Lance's tongue brushes his own gently. Lance sighs as they pull away, tongue darting to quickly swipe across Keith's lip one last time. He watches the blush rise up into Keith's cheeks, dazed expression on his face and out of breath.

"Uh..." Keith articulates, and promptly gets lost in Lance's adoring expression and clear blue eyes, his own expression morphing to match.

They stare at each other for a few more seconds before Lance dives back in, Keith following his lead. What feels like hours pass as they get lost in eachother, pressing soft kisses to the others face and needy ones to mouths, tongues gently trying to relay everything they're feeling for eachother that went too long going unsaid. It never becomes too heated to start anything, both too exhausted, but desperation is there, as well as underlying desire, adoration, longing, and most importantly, the love they’ve kept under lock and key for much too long.

Eventually, they settle down, exhaustion finally overcoming them. Lazy kisses are pressed anywhere they can reach, and Keith is half asleep before Lance sighs. He presses another kiss to Keith’s neck, thinks about leaving a hickey, before he pulls away leans over to hit the bedside light switch. They’ll have plenty of time later to mark eachother up, he tells himself. The clock blinks at him 4:42am, and as he turns back to Keith, Keith pulls the blankets over them both.

Keith presses a silent kiss to Lance's forehead, and Lance thinks maybe they have kiss fever or something ridiculous like that. He sighs against Keith's chest, heartbeat in his ear and Keith's breathing starting to even out. Lance's hand wanders to Keith’s waist, sliding under his shirt to press against skin.

"Hey, Keith?"

Keith hums, half asleep.

"I'm really glad you're here."

There's a pause, and then Keith’s fingers find Lance’s, lacing them together.

"Me too."

They drift off to sleep, and it's the best sleep Lance has had since they left the castle.

The next morning, Shiro quietly places the rest of Keith’s belongings he salvaged from the shack on the chair and snaps a picture to show the team with a smug smile. Pidge and Hunk owe him $30 and dinner.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!!! If you wanna yell with me about your favorite ships, my tumblr is @disaster-gay-shiro!! I'm a big multishipper, so all ships are welcome in my house ;)


End file.
